Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Lanthanum

              

  • A chemical element which is a silvery white metal belongs to group 3 of periodic table and is the first element of lanthanide series with atomic number 57.
  • Occurrence of Lanthanum is found wherever deposits of monazite and bastnasite are found. It usually comprises 25 to 38% of the total lanthanide present in the ore.
  • Manufacturing methods to obtain pure lanthanum are solvent extraction and ion exchange techniques.
  • The demand for lanthanum is expected to increase. While current hybrid automobile batteries use huge amount of lanthanum.By 2015, Lanthanum supply demand exceeds by 13%.
  • Applications of lanthanum includes in battery electrodes, camera lens, catalytic cracking catalyst.

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